Azaranica is a non-biased news aggregator on Hazaras and Hazarajat...The main aim is to promote understanding and respect for cultural identities by highlighting the realities they are facing on daily basis...Hazaras have been the victim of active persecution and discrimination and one of the reasons among many has been the lack of information, awareness and disinformation...... To further awareness against violence, disinformation and discrimination, we have launched a sister Blog for youths and youths are encouraged to share their stories and opinions; Young Pens

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

For years Quetta in Pakistan has rarely been visited by foreign media organisations, as it is considered too dangerous. Now a World Service investigation has uncovered the reality of life for the city's persecuted Hazara Shia community in what some describe as "hell on earth".

On 10 January 2013, a suicide bomber walked into a packed snooker hall in Quetta and detonated an explosive device, marking the beginning of what would become the bloodiest day in Pakistan's recent history.

Eight people died in the initial blast and the area soon became flooded with people trying to help. A second bomb planted on an ambulance was then detonated.

Listen to the full report on Assignment on the BBC World Service on Thursday May 2 and on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents on the same day at 11:00am.

The attacks killed more than 120 people, most of them from the Hazara Shia community, in a campaign strategically planned to inflict maximum carnage.

Quetta's Hazara community is on the front line of Pakistan's battle with violent extremism.

Ruqsana Bibi lost three of her four sons on that day. The walls of her modest home are filled with family pictures. She sits on the floor holding three frames. Each contains a picture of one of the children she lost.

"I ran to the mosque barefoot and I saw the bodies of my three sons. I kissed their faces. I carried them to the cemetery myself. The eldest was Khadim Husain. I said to him: 'You must take care of your brothers in the grave.' I don't know what happened to me then. People took me home."

Mrs Bibi says her grandsons, aged nine and five, are afraid that they too will be "martyred" one day.

"They say: 'Who are these people killing us?' Who are these people that are stirring up trouble between Sunnis and Shias? It didn't used to be like this."

Mrs Bibi's family, like almost all of the victims of the Quetta attacks, are Hazara.

Hazaras are ethnically Mongolian, with oriental features and light skin, different from much of Pakistan's population... Continue Reading...

Mobeen Azhar travels to the Pakistani city of Quetta to investigate how it has become the scene of violent and indiscriminate attacks by Sunni militants against the local ethnic Hazara community. It's a city which has become effectively a no-go area for foreign journalists due to the persistent and intensifying violence. Mobeen tells the story of a single day in January of this year when over 100 people lost their lives in twin bombings in Quetta. Claiming responsibility was the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Mobeen retraces the story of the bombings, and examines the growing security concerns in a district dominated by the Shia Hazara community.

He speaks to Fayyaz Mohammed, a candidate in the forthcoming elections who has links to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and talks with Paul Bhatti, who until recently was the Pakistani Minister of National Harmony. Bhatti blames the government's inability to enforce "effective policy" on Pakistan's long history of military dictatorship. Azhar meets blast survivors and the families of victims, and finds out how the security situation is causing many young Hazaras to leave Quetta to seek a better life elsewhere - despite the dangers of putting their lives in the hands of people smugglers.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Last October, Habibullah, a 22-year-old student from Quetta, Pakistan, joined 34 Hazara asylum seekers on a boat bound for Christmas Island, a small Australian territory about 240 miles off the Indonesian coast. Within 24 hours the boat had sunk in a storm. This is his account of his ordeal.

I did not have any intention to go abroad, but it was what I had to do. The circumstances were deteriorating day by day. In recent years, Pakistan has been plagued by sectarian violence and extremism. Especially our community has faced most terrorist attacks because of their distinct looks. Every day we witnessed targeted killing, persecution and sectarian violence that made our community the most vulnerable. Our community was declared a community of infidels by terrorists, making our life miserable. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a brainchild of SSP and the Taliban, made it clear that the only place for the Hazara is the graveyard. Those were the reasons for me to take some concrete steps for my survival.

As a young, energetic and ambitious student, I understood that one day I could lose my life in random killings. Then I opted for the desperate journey that would take me through Malaysia and Indonesia and finally, I hoped, to Australia.

I got a Malaysian visa and left Pakistan in early July 2012. In Malaysia I found a smuggler, who arranged my journey to Indonesia. I stayed two days in Kuala Lumpur and paid him $2,000 just to get me to Jakarta. He promised me that he would take me to Jakarta within one week, but in fact that did not happen.

In the evening of July 26, 2012, after dark, we were taken from a hotel in Kuala Lumpur to the coast from where we set course for Indonesia. We arrived at the departure point on the shore at 10 p.m. We were in the jungle, it was dark and there was a strong wind. The smuggler told us that we would land in Indonesia within four hours. But in fact, it took us ten-and-a-half hours because the man who steered the boat had lost his way. If there had been an emergency, we would not have had any means to ensure our survival. A storm blew up, and there was just the darkness of the night and the horrifying storm. The boat was very small and it was moving very fast. We all got wet. We could have lost our lives within seconds.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

PPP’s failure to check the growing attacks on the Shia community has alienated its supporters within the community.

Earlier this week, Faisal Sakhi Butt, the PPP nominee for one of Islamabad’s two seats, visited the local office of Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen (MWM), the newest kid on the Shia party block.

The MWM, which has been around for a few years, came to prominence earlier this year, when it helped organise countrywide protests in the wake of the devastating bomb attacks in Quetta that took the lives of the Shia Hazaras.

Butt’s agenda for the meeting was no secret. He asked for the support of the MWM for the May elections, requesting that the party withdraw its own candidate for NA-48 and support his candidature.

The request was not unusual as the Shia community is traditionally thought to vote for the PPP. However, Butt was turned down flat.

“We are contesting the elections to give a voice to the people who are upset by the poor performance of the PPP government,” the MWM candidate, Allama Asghar Askari, told Butt.

The incident reflects the general impression that the PPP’s perceived failure to check the growing attacks on the Shia community has alienated its traditional supporters within the community.

This perception is rather strong despite the fact that two of the older Shia parties are still aligned with the PPP — the Islami Tehreek headed by Allama Sajid Naqvi has made an alliance with the PPP while the supporters of Tehreek-e-Nifaz Fiqh Jaferia led by Allama Hamid Moosvi are traditionally known to vote for the PPP.

However, the MWM’s decision to enter the electoral fray and contest the elections across the country has given rise to questions and speculation about the Shia vote causing an upset this time around.

Indeed, the MWM is attracting attention for a number of reasons. The first of course is its impressive debut in the protests after the Hazara attacks. The peaceful protests across the country took everyone by surprise and forced the PPP-led government in Islamabad to impose governor’s rule in Balochistan. What was particularly impressive was the party’s ability to organise protests in Karachi where the Muttahida Qaumi Movement is seen to have the street muscle.

Second is the number of candidates the party has fielded: 127. These include 80 contestants for National Assembly seats and 47 candidates for all four provincial assemblies. At the same time, its candidates are not from the ‘usual stock’; not all of them are ulema or even Shia. While the MWM has fielded a woman on a provincial seat in Karachi, at some places it has even nominated Sunni candidates.

But despite the party’s high profile and the mood of the Shia community, will it manage to win seats?

It is difficult to say anything for sure at the moment not just because the MWM is new but also because in the past the Shia community has never voted as a bloc. “The people of Pakistan do not vote for sect-based parties; this has been repeatedly reflected in various election results,” said Haris Khalique, a newspaper columnist and poet based in Islamabad. However he hastened to add that “the MWM case is different because it is benefiting from a reaction to the existing sense of persecution among Shia population in country.”

At some level, the party is aware of this paradox which helps explain its three-pronged electoral strategy. At the top are the “core seats”, which are constituencies with considerable Shia votes. In this category the party has fielded its own candidates.”

We have strong candidates for constituencies with major Shia population,” said Nasir Sheerazi, secretary of the political wing, MWM.

In the second category it has placed those constituencies where there is a Shia vote large enough to play a role; here the party is trying to form local level alliances or seat adjustment arrangements with other players. “Negotiations are under way where there is a sizeable Shia population,” he added.

Third are the constituencies where the party wants to play the role of a spoiler or send a message to particular parties. This third category includes seats such as the one in Jhang which is to be contested by Sheikh Waqas’ father, Sheikh Muhammad Akram; the MWM will support him against Maulana Muhammad Ludhianvi, the chief of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat.

Similarly, the party plans to support Riaz Peerzada, the PML-N candidate from Bahawalpur. “Our main objective is to block extremists in politics, get rid of criminal elements and pave the way for tolerant people to be active in the electoral process,” Mr Sheerazi said without naming any party.

Despite its public intentions to support PML-N candidates such as Peerzada, the MWM has not held any formal talks with the top PML-N leadership.

In other areas in Punjab, the MWM is also hopeful of making its mark in areas such as Bhakkar.

Local journalists feel that in the current situation the MWM might just make a difference — it is difficult to predict the impact though.

“The reaction to the lack of performance by the mainstream parties will reflect in the election results,” said Muhammad Pervaiz Durrani, a journalist who runs a local FM radio in Layyah.

He was of the opinion that the degree of awareness among the voters and the improved communication tools would help the smaller parties that do not have a local party set-up in every nook and corner of the constituency.

“There is a large Shia population in Bhakkar — many of them have arrived from Dera Ismail Khan and other parts of KPK due to terror threats there. A reactionary vote from them could favour the MWM,” Mr Durrani added. The MWM leadership is banking on this reaction as well.

It is noteworthy that in Punjab the MWM can tap into the Shia vote because the sectarian lines overlap with other faultlines — for instance in Jhang, the Sunni vote tends to be that of the Punjabi migrants who came over at the time of partition while the Shia voters are the indigenous population. The overlapping, say observer, can make it easier for the MWM.

However, in Karachi this is exactly what can work against the MWM as the Shia voters in the city tend to vote on ethnic lines. Despite this, the MWM is surprisingly hopeful about its electoral fortunes in this city.

The party has pinned its hopes on four national assembly and seven provincial assembly seats in the city — the constituencies are the ones that include Soldier Bazaar, Rizvia Society, Ancholi and Malir area. They are NA-252, NA-253, NA-257 and NA-258 and PS-94, PS-102, PS-117, PS-118, PS-119 PS-126 and PS-127.

However the MQM is not impressed. “All the parties have right to contest elections, but the MQM and Shia voters are educated and mature people. They are opposed to sectarianism,” said Wasay Jalil, the MQM spokesman .

The strength of the MQM lies in creating harmony not only among various sects of Islam but also among different religions.” Independent observers agree with the assessment that convincing the Shia voters to ditch the MQM and support the MWM will not be easy.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the MWM has its eyes on Dera Ismail Khan. It has fielded a candidate for a provincial assembly seat here though the candidate is contesting independently — this is because he is a consensus candidate who also enjoys the support of Allama Sajid Naqvi and a few Barelvi groups.

Overall however it is difficult to predict how well the MWM will do electorally. Its ability to win over voters as well as to counter the appeal of the Shia candidates of other parties will prove to be no small hurdle.

This is something most voters also realise. “We vote for someone who is known to us as an individual or as a member of clan,” said Syed Sarfraz Hussain Ghardezi, a local leader of Islamabad, who added “Politics is not akin to standing behind a prayer leader during namaz.”

A string of bomb blasts, including a suicide attack, killed at least nine people and injured dozens more in the provincial capitals of Sindh and Balochistan on Tuesday, heightening fears of increased attacks ahead of next month’s general elections.

In Karachi, a crude bomb targeting a roadside camp office of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) killed at least three people and injured 30 others on Tuesday night. The attack, which happened in the Buffer Zone area, prompted the closure of all roadside camp offices of the party.

An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was planted in flower pots under a huge banner of MQM chief Altaf Hussain erected on the median before the People’s Chowrangi near the city’s popular Café Pyala, officials said.

DSP Usman Agha of the Special Investigation Unit told The Express Tribune that unidentified men had ripped the panaflex banner. “Around 8:00 pm, MQM workers came to the site to take down the banner and replace it with a new one. There was a lot of commotion over who tore the banner, and residents of the area also gathered near the median to see what was going on. That is when the bomb went off,” he said.

Hassan Jafrey, a resident of the area who was injured in the blast, said there were almost 200 people around the median when the explosion occurred.

DSP Usman Agha said the perpetrators must have waited for a crowd to gather before triggering the bomb.

According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, the bomb weighed 1.5kg and was remotely triggered. The explosion left a crater that was three-feet wide and a foot deep.

The MQM decided to temporarily close down all its election campaign offices in Karachi following the blast. The party’s chief Altaf Hussain hit out at the government and said that no steps were being taken to improve the law and order situation in the city. He said it was the responsibility of the interim administration and the election commission to provide a safe environment.

Altaf claimed that about 25 MQM activists, including an election candidate, have been killed over the past few days.

Former MPA and a contestant of the MQM from the constituency, Sheikh Salahuddin, blamed the Taliban and political parties which, “the Taliban chose to be guarantors in the peace talks.” All political activities of the party will remain suspended today, and party workers would wear black bands.

Meanwhile, the private schools associations of Karachi unanimously announced late Tuesday night that it would keep all schools shut on Wednesday (today), owing to the uncertain security situation in the city.

The decision was announced in the wake of MQM’s appeal to observe a day of mourning across the province.

Meanwhile, the Board of Secondary Education Karachi has also postponed all Secondary School Certificate exams scheduled for the day, according to its examinations controller, Noman Ahsan.

Earlier in Quetta, a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a paramilitary checkpoint right near Alamdar Road – a predominantly Shia neighbourhood of Quetta.

“The bomber wanted to target the Hazara community on Alamdar Road,” Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Mir Zubair Mahmood told journalists. “However, he detonated the vehicle when the Frontier Corps troops stopped it at the checkpoint,” he added. “Two houses and eight shops located near the checkpoint were destroyed.”

Khaliq Hazara, the chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party, the main Hazara political organisation, said the blast occurred shortly after he had finished addressing a small outdoor election meeting in a Hazara enclave in the east of the city.

“I was doing my campaigning in my own community,” Hazara told Reuters. “The government should give us security.”

Hazara, who is running for a National Assembly seat at the May 11 elections, said he suspected the bomber intended to kill him and his advisers. “We were the target,” he said.

Medics at the Combined Military Hospital and Civil Hospital confirmed that six people, among them two FC personnel, were killed and 47 others wounded – five of them critically. Bomb Disposal Squad officials said the vehicle was rigged with 90 to 100kg of explosives.

An eyewitness said the bomber had attempted to drive the vehicle into Alamdar Road from the Pir Mohamamd Road area. “The bomber detonated the explosives when FC personnel signaled him to stop at the checkpoint,” Mohamamd Idress told The Express Tribune.

Abu Bakr Siddique, a spokesperson for the banned sectarian extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, claimed credit for the blast in a phone call to media offices in Quetta. The group had also claimed responsibility for two massive bomb attacks on the Shia Hazara community in January and February that had claimed more than 180 lives.

The suicide attack took place hardly an hour after three synchronised explosions rocked the city, causing fear and panic among residents. First, a homemade bomb went off in the Killi Shabo of Jinnah Town, causing no casualties. It was followed by a grenade attack in the Gawalmandi Chowk neighbourhood in which at least five people were wounded. Minutes later a roadside bomb exploded on Gurdat Singh Road, injuring two people.

The injured from both blasts were shifted to the Civil Hospital. Police and paramilitary FC reached the spots and began a manhunt for the perpetrators.

Separately, unknown men hurled a hand grenade into the house of the National Party candidate for PB-43, Haji Muhammad Islam, in Quetta. However, no casualties were reported.

Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi and caretaker Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai condemned the Quetta blasts and offered condolences to the families of the victims. Barozai directed the administration to put in place stringent security measures for the May 12 elections.

The chief minister said that ‘anti-social elements’ wanted to sabotage the electoral process through such acts of terrorism. However, he added that his administration would frustrate such nefarious designs.

A series of bomb blasts in Quetta late Tuesday killed at least five people and injured 30 others, police said.

Police said that four blasts occurred in different parts of Quetta in less than three hours.

A bomber exploded his explosive-laden vehicle near a check post on Alizai road, killing four people and injuring 14 others. Two security personal and two children were among those died in the attack, hospital sources said.

The blast also caused damage to the check post, officials said.

Police sources said that the preliminary investigation suggests that it was a suicide attack, targeting the check post of paramilitary force, Frontier Corps.

The injured were shifted to the military and main civil hospitals. Several injured were registered critical.

Residents said that the fourth blast disrupted power supply system in most parts of the city, plunging it into darkness.

The first blast was reported in Jinnah Town, the second one in the Gawalmandi area and the third blast in Mali Bagh. The forth blast took place on Alizai road.

No group claimed responsibility for the series of blasts.

Meanwhile a bomb attack in Karachi near the office of a political party killed at least three persons and injured at least 15 people. Five people were in critical condition.

Police said that the target was the office of Mutahida Qaumi Movement at in North Nazimabad.

Police said that the bomb was attached to a motorbike and was parked near the office.

Supporters of the MQM and the residents staged a protest demonstration against the blast.

MQM leaders also visited the area and condemned the attack.

No group claimed responsibility. Taliban had threatened attacks on the MQM and the PPP and ANP election meetings. Taliban had asked the people to stay away from the meetings of the three parties.

QUETTA: At least two people were killed and 25 sustained injuries after four successive blasts rocked the provincial capital within a short span of time on Tuesday, further increasing the security concerns ahead of May 11 elections.

As per initial reports, the first blast was reported from Gwalmandi area, the second explosion ripped through Jinnah Town, while the third one hit Gordat Singh area, which has long history of sectarian and ethnic violence. The police said that five people were injured in Gwalmandi.

A fourth explosion that struck near Khuda-e-Dad Chowk in Nechari area within an hour of three earlier back-to-back blasts, according to police, left at least two people dead and 12 injured. Reportedly heavy shooting also followed the blast, which the police said was a suicide one.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Missing asylum-seeker Zahir Yusufi, second right Source: The Australian

HAZARA communities across the world are desperately seeking news about relatives who may have been aboard an asylum boat that sank in the Sunda Strait last week following the failure of Indonesian authorities to carry out a search.

More than a week after the sinking, Basarnas, the Indonesian search and rescue agency, has still not carried out a sea or air search for about 60 people still missing.

The accident is now believed to have happened in the southeast reaches of the Sunda Strait in the early hours of Wednesday last week; a report of a suspected sinking in the same area on Friday morning is now thought to have arisen out of confusion surrounding the first incident.

There were about 72 passengers on the Wednesday boat, all believed to be ethnic Hazaras from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Fourteen are now known to have survived the sinking and to have been picked up by local fishermen off the West Java coast.

Immigration officials at Pelabuhan Ratu have confirmed that late on Thursday police handed them the 14 survivors but the men escaped before they could be questioned.

Hazaras from at least five countries are searching for news about missing relatives. Refugee advocates say that in the absence of any help from officials, a Facebook page is serving as a sort of "clearing house" for families.

Yesterday, the page displayed 14 names, purportedly of those rescued after the small fishing boat they were in rapidly took on water. Some clung to pieces of wreckage for 24 hours before being picked up by the local fisherman. There are also photographs identifying those who have not been found yet.

Among them is Rahmatullah Mohammad Jan, a 17-year-old boy who is believed to have boarded the boat hoping his family would follow to escape the Taliban.

According to family friend Mehdi Sabir, who lives in Padua, Italy, the teenager had left Pakistan, where his parents, two sisters and brother now live, only two weeks ago.

The family were refugees who originally came from the Afghan city of Ghazni.

"They said on Wednesday Rahmatullah called them that they are on the way to Australia in an hour. That was the last time Rahmatullah contacted his family. After that his family did not get nothing, no good news. He is missing like this," Mr Sabir told The Australian.

Another photo shows Mohammad Dawood, aged in his 40s, and Mohammad Asif, 15.

Habib Akbari, from Brisbane, said he knew them from Pakistan and their families had asked him to help find them.

"Their family says they were on that boat," Mr Akbari said.

Perth man Daniel Rezaie said he was receiving lots of calls from fellow Hazaras worried that people they knew may have been on the boat.

"They are really distressed about those people," Mr Rezaie said. "Some are calling, saying, 'I'm not sure if my friend was on that boat or not'."

The Australian understands the national police have contacted at least one of the survivors since, but he was unable to give any information useful to searchers.

Basarnas officials say they have located no other survivors or bodies.

Basarnas did not respond to telephone calls from The Australian yesterday.

A group of Afghan and international experts working on the safeguarding of Bamiyan (Afghanistan), as well as representatives of the Afghan and Japanese governments and UNESCO, recently released a list of recommendations for further activities to preserve the Bamiyan site. The 11th Expert Working Group meeting for the safeguarding of the cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley World Heritage property was successfully held in Aachen, Germany from 10 to 12 December 2012, in close collaboration with the Aachen University (RWTH), Germany, and the Afghanistan authorities.

Building on the previous meetings, officials from the Afghan Government, national and international experts formulated a list of recommendations regarding the future activities for the preservation of the Bamiyan site. They addressed various areas, including archaeology, management and cultural master plan, capacity-building as well as the conservation and interpretation of the Buddha niches and fragments.

The Expert Working Group was formed in 2002 to coordinate all cultural projects in the country entrusted to UNESCO by the Afghan government. This latest meeting aimed to advise UNESCO and the Afghanistan authorities on issues related to the conservation of the Bamiyan World Heritage property.

The discussion emphasized the central importance of a cultural development approach in Bamiyan that incorporates and demonstrates the contribution of culture to sustainable livelihoods, education and the promotion of peace in Afghanistan. The meeting also served as a vector for the coordination of international efforts and as a discussion concerning a range of issues that included infrastructure and development plans of the Afghan Government for Bamiyan in the short and long term and the broader spectrum of heritage management challenges facing Bamiyan and its population. Besides, the Bamiyan Expert Working Group recognised that the current initiatives for the conservation and sustainable management of the World Heritage property of Bamiyan are fully in line with the UNDAF (United Nations Assistance Development Framework) and the Afghan National Development Strategy. The participants considered that the conservation of this outstanding heritage site contributes to promoting peace and fostering sustainable development, for the people of Bamiyan in particular, and in Afghanistan as a whole, by demonstrating the possibility of building sustainable communities by fostering cultural diversity and an appropriate use of the natural and cultural environment.